1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally directed to the field of decals, more specifically to decals and a kit for making such decals, wherein the decals are suitable for use on a variety of substrates and a design can be applied to the decals using a computer printer.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known to decorate various types of items, from drinking glasses to stationery binders, with team logos, advertisements and other types of messages. Most such messages are either pre-printed on the item during the manufacturing process, applied to the item as a pre-printed sticker or handwritten on the item. One popular type of sticker comprises a piece of paper having a printed image on one surface, and a pressure sensitive adhesive on the other surface, wherein the adhesive is used to affix the paper to the item. Such stickers generally are mass produced and are sold in sheets bearing multiple stickers. Although many types of stickers are available, the user is limited to the designs that he or she can find in the marketplace. Further, the user often must purchase several copies of the desired sticker design or must purchase additional stickers, with different designs, in order to purchase the design of interest.
In addition to adorning items with messages or designs, people of many cultures adorn themselves with tattoos to express their identity, religion, courage, patriotism, defiance of death, and emotions. However, many people who would like to express themselves through self-adornment are deterred by the pain, permanence and potential infection and disease that can result from permanent tattoos.
Due to the disadvantages of permanent tattoos, several types of temporary tattoos have been developed. Most such tattoos are designed for mass production, such as by screen printing or high speed lithography. One type of temporary tattoo is created by screen printing an image onto a thin transparent polymeric cover sheet, and applying an adhesive over the image, which adhesive is used to affix the tattoo to the skin. Although such tattoos appear somewhat like a permanent tattoo, the screen print process often results in a thick image that puckers, distorts and cracks when the user""s skin wrinkles.
To avoid the problems with screen printing, it is known to print images onto tattoos using offset or lithographic printing. Humanson, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,864 disclose a process for making a decal using offset lithographic printing that enables rapid manufacture of the decal. In the decal of Humanson, et al., one side of a porous backing paper is coated with a water-soluble slip layer. A thin film of a water-resistant material is applied to the water-soluble slip layer and the design is applied to the water-resistant material using offset lithographic printing. A pressure sensitive adhesive is applied over the ink, which is used to affix the decal to the skin. The offset lithographic printing process used to produce such tattoos is designed for mass production of sheets of tattoos.
Similarly, Moore, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,721, disclose mass production of decals, wherein the design is applied directly to the water soluble slip layer, which slip layer coats a porous backing paper, and a clear spot coating is applied between the ink and the pressure sensitive adhesive to prevent the surface of the decal from becoming sticky to the touch. Again, such a decal is designed to be mass produced in a factory using a high speed lithographic press.
The present invention is directed to a decal wherein the user can print the decal image onto the decal using a computer printer. The decal is preferably supplied to the end user as a kit, wherein the kit comprises a base section onto which the decal image may be printed, and an adhesive section, which provides the adhesive to affix the base section to the substrate after the design has been printed onto the base section. The decal of the present invention does not require a paper layer in the finished decal product, which allows the decal of the present invention to be very thin. In one preferred embodiment, the decal has a thickness of less than about 1.5xc3x9710xe2x88x923 inches.
The base section of the decal kit comprises a base sheet, coated with a release compound, which is covered by an ink jet coating. The ink jet coating enables the user to imprint the decal image onto the base section using a personal computer printer. In addition, the ink jet coating of the present invention binds the ink of the decal image within the ink jet coating and is suitable for use with a wide variety of inks and dyes. Because the ink jet coating binds the ink within the coating, little or no ink is released onto the substrate after the decal is applied to the substrate.
Thus, the decal of the present invention can be used on a wide variety of substrates, with a wide variety of inks and dyes, without harming the substrate. For example, if the decal is intended for use as a temporary tattoo, the decal image can be printed using inks that are not approved by the FDA because the inks will be bound within the ink jet coating and will not contact the user""s skin. The ink jet coating of the present invention may be any material that will bind the ink within the ink jet coating, preferably a material selected from the group consisting of polyurethane, vinyl acetate, polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH).
In a preferred embodiment, the base section of the decal additionally comprises a layer of a water-resistant compound between the release compound and the ink jet coating layer. The water-resistant compound is preferably a non-solvent-based polymer, most preferably a urethane. The water-resistant compound protects the ink jet coating and ink, both during application of the decal to the substrate and once the decal has been applied to the substrate. In the preferred embodiment wherein the water-resistant compound is not solvent based, it does not set quickly, and it therefore can be applied to the base sheet using a wide variety of manufacturing techniques.
In an alternative embodiment, the decal may also comprise a layer of finish between the release compound and the water-resistant compound. The finish layer alters the appearance of the decal. Preferably the finish is varnish that gives the decal a matte finish. The finish may be transparent, opaque, colored and/or contain glitter to alter the appearance of the decal image.
The adhesive section of the decal kit of the present invention supplies an adhesive to bind the base section of the decal to the substrate. The adhesive section comprises an adhesive layer, sandwiched between first and second backing sheets. The backing sheets are preferably comprised of a dry release paper that can be easily separated from the adhesive layer.
To assemble the decal of the present invention from the decal kit of the present invention, the user feeds the base section into a computer printer, such that the printer will print the desired decal image onto the surface of the base section bearing the ink jet coating. The user then removes a first backing sheet from the adhesive layer and affixes the exposed surface of the adhesive layer to the ink jet coating of the base section. The user then removes the second backing sheet and applies the exposed surface of the adhesive layer, opposite the surface applied to the base section, to the substrate.
After affixing the base section to the substrate, the user removes the base sheet to reveal the decal image. In a preferred embodiment the release compound is a dry release compound, such as silicone, which will produce low amount of adhesion with the water-resistant compound. As a result, the adhesive layer, which creates a high level of adhesion between base section and the substrate, will hold the decal to the substrate, allowing the base sheet bearing the release compound to simply be pulled away from the water-resistant compound. In an alternate embodiment, the release compound is a water-soluble compound and the base sheet is a porous paper. To remove the base sheet in such embodiment, the user applies water to the porous paper, which penetrates and dissolves the water-soluble compound, allowing the user to remove the porous paper base sheet.
In use, the adhesive layer, positioned between the ink jet coating and the substrate, aids in preventing the ink of the decal image from coming into contact with the substrate. In one embodiment, the adhesive layer comprises a barrier layer sandwiched between first and second adhesive sub-layers. The first adhesive sub-layer binds the barrier layer to the ink jet coating, and the second adhesive sub-layer binds the barrier layer to the substrate. The barrier layer adds still further protection against the ink of the decal image reaching the substrate. In addition, when the substrate is human skin, the barrier layer blocks perspiration from the skin from coming into to contact with and smudging the ink of the decal image.
The decal kit of the present invention may optionally contain ink to be used to print the decal image. However, insofar as any ink or dye suitable for use in the user""s printer may be used to print the decal image in the decal of the present invention, the ink may be obtained by the user separately from the kit. It is an advantage of the present invention that the end-user can use many inks and dyes, including ink obtained for other purposes, to print the decal image onto the decal of the present invention, regardless of the substrate onto which the decal will be applied. The decal kit may also contain additional layers or decorations to apply to the decal.
The decal of the present invention can be produced from the decal kit of the present invention, using a home computer and printer, which provides the user with a nearly unlimited number of decal images from which to choose. Further, because the ink jet coating binds the ink within the ink jet coating, the user can use a wide variety of inks to produce the decal image. Thus, the decal kit of the present invention enables the user to produce conveniently a wide variety of decals. Further, in one embodiment of the present invention, the decal is comprised only of an ink jet coating layer, in which ink is embedded, and an adhesive layer. Such a decal is much thinner than a decal comprising paper, or a similarly thick layer. Even in the embodiment comprising adhesive, ink jet coating, ink, a water-resistant compound and a finish, the total thickness of the decal is less than 1.5xc3x9710xe2x88x923 inch, exclusive of the base sheet and backing sheets. The thin decal of the present invention produces a decal that, when affixed to a substrate, appears to be printed or tattooed on the substrate, producing a professional and finished appearance that is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve with decals comprising a paper layer.